U.K. Company Launches Smartwatch App for Banks

A prototype of what wearable computing apps could look like in banking came to market Monday. Intelligent Environments, a financial services software firm in the U.K., announced a banking app for the Peddle smartwatch. Its app, which needs a bank partner, lets users view their bank balances and recent transactions. More interestingly, it vibrates when the user nears his overdraft limit.

The tech company said it's in conversations with banks that want to roll out similar technology to its smartwatch app, which is just one example of what the company could develop for wearable computing devices.

"The Interact smartwatch app marks our first step towards developing digital banking systems for other wearable technologies, such as Google Glass," said Clayton Locke, chief technology officer at Intelligent Environments, in a press release.

In the U.S., Intuit is testing payment apps for Google Glass, smartwatches and fitness bands and Fidelity launched an app for Glass that delivers quotes from major U.S. stock indexes.

Intelligent Environments cites its app's inspiration as Homelink, Britain's first online bank service that Bank of Scotland offered to Nottingham Building Society customers. The system, which launched in 1983, let customers view statements, bank transfers and bill payments online.

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